It’s a sad sad time for Bangkok, full of strife and fear, so I thought it might be a good time to remember a love of something that we all share (in case you need the other shoe to drop, that thing is food). This is what I’m talking about:

Thai coconut ice cream in a hot dog bun

Ice cream ruamitr, a mix of jackfruit and water chestnut flavors against a coconut cream background, is drizzled with carnation milk and served in a hot dog bun. This is the way Thais — rich and poor, young and old, big and small (okay, usually pretty big) — have been enjoying their ice cream for decades. This dessert/snack spans from the humblest streetside mobile vendor’s offerings at 10 baht a bun to a more “hi-so” (and dare I say, overpriced) version with black beans, palm sugar fruit and mango at 10 times that price. A reminder that, as bad as things have gotten, we all have something in common.